Home-life worries can disrupt ability to learn

School district takes a holistic approach to teaching at-risk children

May 14, 2013

Maria Tate feels third-grader Isabella Petersen's forehead at Watkins Elementary. Tate encourages her students to check worries at the door and let school be their 'safe place.' / Valerie Mosley/News-Leader

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Timelapse of a Thrid Grade Classroom: Six math groups change stations six times in one hour in Tabitha Eutsler's class at Jeffries Elementary.

Tabitha Eutsler talks with Malachi Sutherland in her third-grade class at Jeffries Elementary. The principal at her school stresses that each child should be viewed and treated as an individual. / Valerie Mosley/News-Leader

Third Grade Project

• Sunday: A key year. Are we doing enough for Springfield’s third- graders? Monday: Children with vastly different skill levels in the same class. Educational “triage.” More elementary kids suspended. Today: Too many kids must deal with baggage: abuse, poverty, moving from school to school. How teachers help. Inside:• Parents can also be stars, or not, at school • How to help

Watkins third-grade teacher Maria Tate helps Ryan Raaphorst with a lesson on March 21. Tate says that while she understands students have worries, she doesn't let stress become a reason not to excel. / Valerie Mosley/News-Leader

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Third-grade teacher Maria Tate can’t erase the worries that follow her students to class.

They may be stressed about having enough food to eat, enough clean clothes that fit, a way to get to and from school every day and a safe place to sleep.

She just asks that they check those worries at the door.

“I encourage them every day to let this be their safe place. Let this be the place that doesn’t change,” Tate said. “...This is their refuge. You’ve got to tell them that, but you have to back it up every day.”

More than half of Springfield students straddle the poverty line, and it’s higher — three out of every five — at the elementary level. Teachers like Tate know that home-life worries, left unchecked, can disrupt the students’ ability to learn.

“I know all of them have some kind of situation at home,” she said.

Associate Superintendent Ben Hackenwerth said teachers and support staff have long acknowledged that in order to teach at-risk children, the district must take a holistic approach. That means often, before a child can learn, his or her basic needs must first be met.

“Our core mission is really to get these students through to graduation so they can become productive members of the community,” said Hackenwerth. “Getting there is broad work, and it’s not just the academic piece. It’s trying to mitigate some of the barriers that they may face.”

Greene County has consistently ranked high in the state in cases of child abuse and neglect, poverty has been on the rise and the school district noted a record number of homeless students this year.

That requires the school district to become a vital link between the child’s family and needed resources in the community. The extra help can often be accessed directly through the school building or through referrals.

More than a year ago, Superintendent Norm Ridder created the Kids First committee, which regularly brings together representatives from more than 40 organizations serving children. It has worked to prioritize the greatest issues facing children and then look for ways to fill gaps and eliminate overlaps in services.

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Hackenwerth said teachers make a concerted effort to identify specific help each child might need.

“Teachers have to become skilled observers of students’ behaviors to try and identify whether or not there’s a problem that they otherwise wouldn’t know about,” Hackenwerth said. “They may be acting out. As opposed to just responding to the way they’re acting, we get to the root of what’s bothering them, what’s causing them to feel this way.”

Tate, who teaches at Watkins Elementary on Talmage Street in northwest Springfield, starts by not making assumptions. She knows connecting with each child is critical to being able to teach reading, writing and math.

“I take as much time as I need to get to know them,” she said.

She said it’s also important that she is clear on her role and the high expectations she has of students. While she understands they have worries, she doesn’t want those extra stresses to be an excuse not to excel.

“I really don’t need to be their friend. I will be friendly with them. I will be someone they can trust and will be the stable person in their world,” she said. “But I don’t worry if they like me.”

Courtney Becker, a third-grade teacher at Field Elementary not far from Battlefield Mall, has worked in both high- and low-poverty schools. She said there are low-income children in every school building; some just have more.

But, among children who have a more secure home and family setting, she finds there’s “a disproportionate rate of ‘I am free to be a child because all of my needs are met.’”

Becker said third grade is a critical year and families with high mobility — which can result in a child moving to multiple schools in a year — can give a child a shaky educational footing.

“We call it a Swiss cheese education — the mobility. You move around and your foundation has these big holes in it,” she said.

Liz Cooper, principal of Jeffries Elementary on South Scenic Avenue, said teachers combat the uncertainty that stress and high mobility can bring by reaching out to each child.

As children come in, they are given a “fresh start” and staff look for any needs that must be addressed.

“Our teachers are the ones providing intervention,” she said. “We’ve been able to build a team of educators that love students no matter their circumstances.”

Cooper said connecting with parents and building partnerships between the teacher and family is critical to the success of the child. “We’ve kept our arms open to parents,” she said.

She said it’s important that each child be viewed and treated as an individual.